In Thomas Mann's classic novel The Magic Mountain, the hero, Hans Castorp, observes the mysterious Madame Chauchat, a fellow patient in a swiss sanatorium, only from afar. Over time, a strange understanding develops between the watcher and the watched; when at last the two finally speak, it is the conversation of people who have known each other for years. Tyler Whitney was well aware of the implications behind this idealistic relationship when he borrowed the name Chauchat (pronounced “show-shah”) for his Lancaster, Pennsylvania band.﻿